FV420: Sundown
by Fifth Voyager
Summary: Not long after returning to England, James joins little sister Lena and the others in the abandoned city of Manchester.
1. Chapter 1

**Sundown**

**Written //** 20th, 29th - 31st May & 4th June 2004

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**Durham, Tantobie village:**  
A shuttle landed in the fields nearby a quiet housing estate. Only metres away were houses that had mostly collapsed, nearby them was piles of debree. Right next to that was a steep drop with no bottom in sight.

Several men started getting off the shuttle that had landed, Stephen and James were among them. Stephen glanced back at some of the guys, "I'm not looking forward to this. I lived in the Tanfield village for years."

One guy groaned, "it is always harder to look at remains of a place you lived in. We've all done this before."

Stephen stopped to let most of the guys walk ahead of him. "Maybe you can give the Slayer a grand tour of the hole, he should love that," another guy sneered.

James came up beside Stephen, "did I miss an insult?"

"Yes but it's the usual, they're running out of material," Stephen groaned in response. He and James walked closer to the edge carefully avoiding the worst of the debree. "According to the boss this was the largest game since the Manchester one. It took out most of Tanfield, including the primary school, half of good old Tanfield comp.."

"All I can say about the comprehensive school is finally," James said.

"Good thing it was empty at the time. Some of Tantobie got pulled down as you can see.." Stephen said. He and James got to the edge, all they could see was a huge square shaped crater spanning a mile. "..and worst of all, because of the numerous hills the Game left a very deep square shaped hole."

"Uh huh," James said uneasily. "When did this happen?"

A few of the other guys headed over to them. "Just on Saturday.. speaking of which, how was your trip to Voyager anyway?" one guy bitterly asked. He walked off, the others followed him.

"Don't let them get to you, they're just jackasses. I doubt you would of been able to stop it in time," Stephen said.

"Right, tell that to everyone who lived here," James muttered. He followed the others away from the sight.

**Later that day:**  
Another shuttle clumsily landed nearby the other one. Meanwhile a couple of the men were trying to lift a large bit of metal.

"I think we have a problem," one guy groaned.

"Ok guys put it down," the biggest guy said. The others dropped it back down on the debree below it.

The shuttle door opened, Lena stepped out of it and headed in their general direction. "Hey, have you seen.." she started to say.

One of the men walked up to her, "ok honey before you ask, we don't let anybody work here. I don't think this is for you sweetheart."

"Don't scare her off, I'm sure she could pick up the tiles that fell off roofs," another guy said.

Lena just looked amused, "really, you read my mind. I was thinking of picking them all up and throwing them at you."

The two guys glanced at each other, grinning. "Well honey if you were a little bigger we'd think about letting you work here. Right David?"

The other guy smiled, "oh I dunno, maybe we should keep her. Looking at debree and holes in the ground is an eyesore."

Lena shook her head, "what are you having problems with?"

"Nothing that you can handle," David replied.

Lena smiled as she walked over to the large bit of metal. She easily lifted it up, "where do you want it?"

All the guys stared at her in shock. "Oh she must be the Slayer's sis," one guy muttered.

"I sure hope so," David grumbled as he pointed at a large skip nearby. Lena came back over to them after dumping the metal.

"Now have you seen James?" she asked.

David glanced at his partner, "uh.. partially inside one of those houses."

"Partially?" Lena said.

David shrugged, "half of the house collapsed."

"Oh," Lena said as she walked towards one of the houses.

James came up to her from the collapsed house, "what was that all about?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to show up some pigs," Lena replied.

"It's fun isn't it?" James said. Lena just grinned in response. "Doesn't shut them up though."

"Well I could smack a few of them while I'm here. It's not against the rules is it?" Lena said sweetly.

"Do what you want," James said.

Lena glanced over in the crater's direction, "Sandi and Kevin were very close to stopping that."

"Oh, what happened?" James asked.

Lena sighed, "Daniel told them about it, rushed into a shuttle but weren't exactly sure where to go. They only knew when they saw the cube, by the time they landed it was too late."

"Well I'm getting stick for going to Voyager on the same day as this," James said.

Lena shrugged, "well I was on the Enterprise remember."

The large guy came passed, "talk to the girl later, you've got work to do."

James rolled his eyes, "whatever it is Lena, it'll have to be quick."

"We do need your help with something. There's a nest there somewhere, well we think so as the number of vampires isn't going down. We could do with someone who knows the area," Lena said.

"I'd love to but I don't have time. I can't get away from this job and it takes up most of the time I have," James said.

"Right, different timezones throw you off. Well they know you're a Slayer right, they'll let you off if you tell them," Lena said.

"Actually no they wont. I have to be punished first you see," James muttered.

Lena groaned, "do they not trust you or something?"

"It's not that, they just don't like me," James replied.

Lena raised her eyebrow, "is this because you've been absent from Earth for ten years. They know who I am now and there's been no attitude since they found out."

"I dunno, maybe they know you can beat them up without making things worse," James said.

"Maybe. What about the weekend?" Lena asked.

"Definitely not. Jessie wasn't happy that I left last weekend, I promised I wouldn't do anything this weekend," James replied.

"I get the idea. Gee now we both know why you can't mix a Slayer life with anything else," Lena muttered.

"I'll try and come down whenever I can. I'll need one hell of a good excuse to get out of work for one day, or just half a day. I can't say I'm going to Manchester after all," James said.

"Well I'm sure you'll come up with something, you were always the skiver," Lena said.

"Great thanks," James muttered.

Lena headed back towards the shuttle, "just give me a call when you can come."

Stephen walked over to James once Lena went inside her shuttle. "She was cute, who was she?"

James didn't look too happy, "my sister."

"Oh, if she's the Slayer I'll not bother," Stephen muttered.

"I really wish you would," James said.

Stephen grinned, then he got it, "oh.. hey!"

"Relax, I'm kidding," James muttered as he walked away.

Stephen opened up a tricorder, it started beeping, "hmm.. is that you?" James stopped and turned around, Stephen pointed the tricorder at him, the beeping got louder. "Oh must be."

James came back over to him, "let me see that." Stephen looked confused as he passed the tricorder to him. He walked closer to a large pile of debree inside the house itself. "Can't be."

"What?" Stephen stuttered.

"Someone's alive under there," James replied.

Stephen stepped backwards, "guys we need a doctor or something!" A few of the guys rushed over.

"What's going on?" one asked.

"Oh god," James stuttered as he looked at the other side of the debree. A head of a very young girl was sticking out of the bottom of the debree. "There's a kid under here."

"You heard him.. get a bloody ambulance here or something," Stephen snapped at the two guys. They both rushed back the way they came. Stephen rushed over to the pile itself, "the rescue crews always get survivors, how did they miss the kid?"

"I don't know.. here," James replied. Stephen took the tricorder back off him, then put it in his pocket. They both started to pull off the debree.

The larger guy came by, "somebody called for an ambulance, what's wrong?"

James groaned, "there's a little girl buried under this!"

"Ok ok, don't take that tone with me," the guy grumbled. He headed over to help.

They managed to clear the debree off the girl. James and Stephen knelt down nearby her, Stephen opened up the tricorder he had again. Just then the girl opened up her eyes.

David walked into the house, "an ambulance will be here in five minutes."

The little girl looked up at the guys. "What.. what's going on?" she asked weakly.

"Uh.. there was an accident, but we're getting help," Stephen replied nervously.

"I can't move," the girl muttered.

"Probably a good thing," Stephen whispered to the bigger guy.

"For god's sake, give her some space and let me talk to her," James muttered.

"Why and why you?" David asked.

"Someone has to keep her mind off this, and I know how to talk to kids," James replied.

"Fine," David muttered. The others backed away.

"Ok sweetheart, what's your name?" James asked.

The girl looked around before looking up at him, "Kim."

"Ok Kim, a few people are coming to make you feel better. Do you think you can put up with this lot until then?" James said.

Kim giggled, "yeah."

"Charming," David muttered.

"So how old are you?" James asked.

"I'm two," Kim replied. "Who are all of you?"

"I haven't learned all the names yet so I may get it wrong," James replied as he looked up at the guys. "The guy with dark hair is Stephen, the tall stupid looking one is David. That big guy is Matt."

"At least I'm tall unlike someone," David muttered.

"But who are you? Mummy told me not to talk to strangers," Kim asked.

"Well we call him Slayer, idiot.. jackass.. but only Slayer when he's around," David replied.

"That's a funny name," Kim said.

James groaned, "it's not my name. It's James."

"Oh ok," Kim said quietly.

Matt pressed his commbadge, "Johnny, status."

In: "The ambulance is still coming.. god."

"Hey, do you want to be fired?" Matt snapped.

In: "No sir, Johnny out."

"So do you all live here?" Kim asked.

"No, we're just working here. You obviously live here," James replied.

"Uh huh, me and mummy just moved here," Kim said.

"Bad timing," Stephen muttered.

"Keep quiet Stephen," James said. Stephen smiled innocently. "Ok have you made any friends here yet?"

"No.. do any of you have kids? None here are nice," Kim asked. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, "oh I'm tired."

Stephen opened up the tricorder, Matt walked over to his side to look at it. "That ambulance better hurry up," he said quietly.

David knelt down nearby Kim and James. "I think we should quit with the useless trivia.."

"What he means is that he doesn't have any kids," James muttered, glaring at him.

"How did you know that?" David asked.

"It was rather obvious," James replied.

Matt sighed, "I had a daughter but she died.."

"Why?" Kim asked.

"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it," Matt said, glancing at Stephen.

"Oh.. I don't, not yet," Stephen said.

Kim looked in James' direction with tired eyes. He sighed, "I have two, my daughter's a similar age to you."

Kim managed a weak smile, "cool, can I meet her?"

In: "Ambulance has arrived sir."

Matt tapped his commbadge, "thank god, tell them to hurry."

"Um, we do live in America.. but I'll see what I can do," James replied as he looked up at the others.

Matt stepped closer to them, "somebody's coming now."

"Good," James said. He looked back down at Kim, her eyes were closed again.

"Oh," Stephen muttered. Everyone looked at him, "I think she's dead."

David stood up slowly, "talk about bad timing."

**Later that day, Indiana:**  
"I'm sorry but it's all the time, you've got to do something about it," Jessie said.

Gretchen folded her arms, "all the time?"

Jessie nodded, "that's what I said, what kind of tea bags do you get?"

"I replicate plain ones," Gretchen replied.

"Fine, but you should cut down," Jessie said.

Duncan walked into the room, "hi mum."

"Hey Dunc, how was school?" Jessie asked.

"Meh," Duncan replied, he sat down in front of the TV. "I got maths homework and I didn't do anything wrong."

"Duncan everyone gets homework," Gretchen said.

"Oh, I thought it was a punishment," Duncan said.

Jessie smiled, "yeh I used to think so too. Your dad can help you with it, back at primary he was good at maths."

"So he'll tell me the answers, cool," Duncan said.

"Not exactly," Jessie said. She looked towards the door, "where is your dad?"

"I dunno, he was in a bad mood the whole way home," Duncan replied.

"Monday blues I guess," Gretchen commented. She walked into the kitchen.

James walked into the living room, "hey.."

"Hey," Jessie said, she pulled herself up from the sofa. "What's up?"

"I just had one of those days that really suck," James replied.

"Yeh me too," Duncan muttered, flicking through a maths book.

Jessie laughed briefly, "what happened?"

"We were sent to a new Game site today," James replied.

"A new one? There hasn't been a new one for a while," Jessie said.

"Oh there was at the weekend. Guess where," James said.

"It wasn't New Manchester was it?" Jessie questioned.

"Nope, guess again," James sighed.

"Shield Row, Tanfield.." Jessie said.

"Yep, Tanfield slash Tantobie," James muttered, he sat down on the sofa.

"Oh, I know this sounds insensitive but did the game get rid of our old school?" Jessie asked.

"A bit of it yeah," James replied.

"Oh," Jessie groaned. She sat down next to him. "So, what else happened?"

"How did you know there was something else?" James asked.

Jessie shrugged, "instinct."

"We found a survivor, a two year old girl," James said.

"That's odd, wouldn't the mother or father have reported her missing or something?" Jessie questioned.

"She never mentioned her dad.. my guess is she only lived with her mum, and she's too dead to notice she was missing," James replied.

"Oh.." Jessie said. "How is the girl?"

"Well lets just say if I'm right about her mum, we don't have to worry about how she'll take the news," James replied.

"Oh right," Jessie muttered.

"Like I said, bad day," James said.

Jessie nodded, looking uncomfortable, "Duncan got maths homework."

Duncan however wasn't listening, he was frowning at a page in the book. "What the, we only got up to the ten times table, how do I times by fifty six. I knew that cow of a teacher hated me."

Jessie tried not to laugh, "I think he's stuck already."

"I'll help him," James said. He got off the sofa, "Dunc, why don't we both work on that upstairs."

"Why, I like it here?" Duncan moaned.

"TV and long multiplication, not a good combination," James replied.

"Oh.." Duncan groaned.

"Watch TV afterwards," James said, heading for the other door.

Duncan climbed back onto his feet with the book in his hands. "Fifty six, I can't even times that by two.. stupid cow." He followed James out of the room.

Jessie shook her head as Gretchen came back in the room with a cup of tea. "That didn't last long then?"

Gretchen looked at her cup, "no."

"Can I ask you a question?" Jessie asked.

"As long as it isn't about tea additivity," Gretchen replied. She sat down in another chair.

"It's not," Jessie said. "That job of James' isn't good for him, he's getting more and more depressed every day. I don't know what to do, so what would you do?"

"Hmm.. I noticed too but you obviously know him better than me," Gretchen sighed. "He's a Slayer so he's suppose to prevent the messes he has to clean up everyday. It might be getting to him because he somehow feels responsible for it."

"But he's not though," Jessie said.

"I know, that's not the point. Besides he's getting up early hours of the morning, working twelve hour shifts at a job he probably hates. He brings his oldest child home from school, spends one or two hours with you and the kids and has to go to bed very early to catch up on sleep," Gretchen said. "The problem is that this is a punishment, there's nothing any of us can do about it.. unless.."

"Unless, unless what?" Jessie questioned.

"The job probably seems more demanding and it takes up more of his time, because he works in a different timezone to where he lives. Maybe if you moved to England, that may help," Gretchen replied.

Jessie sighed, "we discussed that already. There's only one place we can go over there, but I can't stand the woman who owns the place, we fell out years ago. Most of all she's not going to welcome me back with open arms when she sees James with me."

"I don't understand," Gretchen said.

"She was my foster mum. For a brief time she had adopted James, so in a way he was my foster brother for a while," Jessie said. "She went nuts when she found out about two kisses we shared when we were teens. Imagine what her reaction will be when she sees us with two kids, a wedding ring on our fingers and, well me pregnant with a third kid."

"I see," Gretchen said.

"I want to help him but I'd rather move in with the vampires in Manchester than go back there," Jessie said.

"His sister got a flat in New Manchester. Can't you do the same?" Gretchen questioned.

"No, they're not big enough for families," Jessie replied.

"And there's nowhere else to go, are you sure?" Gretchen asked.

Jessie groaned, "no, because of the Games destroying parts of that country it is hard to find a place to live there."

"Ok well it's simple," Gretchen said. Jessie glanced at her. "If you love and care about James enough, you'll be willing to grit your teeth and live there until you can find a new place."

"It isn't that simple, you have no idea what this woman was like," Jessie muttered.

Gretchen smiled, "Jessie this isn't exactly a new problem to me, my husband was a Starfleet admiral. I was obviously married longer than you've been to James so far, so let me tell you something. A marriage wont work if you're not willing to make sacrifices, I'm sure he'd do the same for you if the roles were reversed."

"And you said you don't know him well," Jessie said, raising her eyebrow.

"I'm right I take it," Gretchen said.

"Dead right, he would do the same for me. I'll go and talk to him," Jessie said. She pulled herself off the sofa, and headed out of the room.

**Meanwhile:**  
"I don't get it," Duncan pouted.

"I know it's hard at first. You don't times that number by fifty six, you times that number with fifty and six separately, then add them like I showed you," James said.

"But.. I don't know the fifty times table," Duncan moaned.

"You don't need to, you know the five times table right?" James questioned.

"Uh huh.." Duncan replied.

"Well what's five times six?" James asked.

Duncan looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it, "thirty, why?"

"Well add a zero the end of that number," James replied.

"Three hundred.. that's not right," Duncan muttered.

"I know but that's all you do to times fifty by six," James said.

Duncan looked confused for a moment, "oh.. I get what she was talking about now."

"Yeah teachers have a tendency to not explain things right. Maybe I should be one," James said.

"Yeah then you could slap all the other ones," Duncan grinned.

James shook his head, "whatever. So you've got three hundred for one, so what's six times six?"

Jessie walked into the room, "hey how's he doing?"

"We're still doing the first question," James replied.

"Thirty six right?" Duncan replied.

"Yeh good," James said. He wrote something on a bit of paper. "I trust the cow of a teacher told you how to add numbers this big."

"Yeah she did," Duncan said.

"Ok you add those two together and you'll get the answer. Try the second one on your own and I'll check it for you," James said.

"Ok," Duncan said. James gave him the pen, he started to write on the paper.

Jessie smiled, "you're quite the maths teacher still."

"Um yeah right," James muttered as he stood up. "Next time you're helping him."

"No way, you're the smart one," Jessie said.

"Since when?" James asked.

Jessie rolled her eyes, "whatever. I need to talk to you outside."

"Ok, Duncan I'll be right back," James said. He and Jessie headed outside.

Duncan pouted, "ok.. seventy two times three, that teacher has to be fired."

James closed the door behind him, "I hope he doesn't call the teacher a cow in person."

"Well it's better than him insulting her," Jessie said, folding her arms.

"I only did that cos the teachers rudely interrupted arguments with other people," James muttered.

Jessie smiled, "they're suppose to do that remember."

"Yeah and they're suppose to put the ones who started it on detention," James said.

"Well it was always you insulting the teachers, you had it coming," Jessie said.

"Fine, is this what you wanted to talk about?" James asked.

"No, um I was thinking about moving to England. It wouldn't be a bad idea," Jessie replied.

"But what about your quarrel with Sarah?" James questioned.

"Well I was more concerned about it because if she knew we were married before moving in, she might not let us," Jessie replied.

"I don't get it, why would she be against us being married?" James muttered.

"Because in her perfect world we're brother and sister," Jessie replied.

"Is that it? This was your big quarrel?" James questioned.

Jessie narrowed her eyes, "there was more to it than that."

"Ok.. sorry Jess," James said. He put his right arm around her and kissed her forehead.

Jessie smiled, "so.. do you still want to move?"

"Well it would make things easier if we lived there. Of course we'd have to enroll Duncan at another school, and I'll have to arrange my break times to pick him up," James replied. "But if you have problems with Sarah, it's not going to work."

"I dunno maybe she'll be ok with it now, it was nearly thirteen years ago," Jessie said.

"I could visit her tomorrow and ask about moving, I'll find out if she's ok with it without you getting really involved," James said.

Jessie shook her head, "no don't do that. I appreciate it but no. Try and avoid telling her, I want to give her a shock."

"We're not trying to kill her, are we?" James asked slowly.

"No," Jessie sweetly replied. "She may not be over it and I don't want her mouthing off at you. I want to see her reaction for myself."

"All right, one question," James said.

"Ok what?" Jessie shrugged.

"Which primary school should we take Duncan too?" James asked.

"Uh I don't know, we should at least get him out of his current one," Jessie replied.

"I'll contact you after I find out if we're moving or not, you can get him out of that one and I'll find a decent primary school in the area. Is that fair?" James asked.

"Yep, just don't send him to that old run down school at East Stanley," Jessie replied.

"Jess, what makes you think that I hate Duncan?" James muttered.

Jessie smiled sweetly, "I'm sorry, it was just in case."

James nodded, "ok, should he still do his homework?"

"Well yes, just in case we don't move," James replied. He opened the door again, "I think we should keep him off tomorrow anyway."

"Good idea," Jessie said.

******To be continued******


	2. Chapter 2

**Sundown**

**Written //** 20th, 29th - 31st May & 4th June 2004

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**The next day, Tantobie:**  
Matt headed towards the shuttle while keeping an eye on some of the workers. "You've got five minutes boys, hurry it up."

James dumped a few things in the skip, he started to follow Matt. "Can I talk to you?"

Matt sighed, "yeah fine, what is it Stuart?"

"Well there's a chance that I'm moving to England and.. wait did you call me by my name?" James questioned.

"Yes I did. You did a good job yesterday," Matt replied.

"I did the same thing I do everyday," James said.

"I mean with the little girl. The other guys would of freaked her out or just scared her," Matt said.

"Oh I see," James said.

"What did you want to talk about?" Matt asked.

"Well I may be moving to England, I'll be needing at least half a day off to do that, unless it's at the weekend," James replied.

Matt sighed, "I see, you are aware that this is a punishment not a job?"

"Yeah I am but I do need to move, and my wife's seven months pregnant.. You know I could work for one day on a weekend to make up for it," James replied.

"Yes I suppose you could. When are you moving?" Matt asked.

"I don't know. I need to see if I can first," James replied.

"Ok, you will let me know when, when you find out," Matt said.

"I'll let you know when I come back to work, I'm going to find out during dinner," James said.

"Right, we'll discuss this further when you get back," Matt said.

"There is a few other things," James said.

"Ok," Matt muttered.

"Is it possible if I can rearrange my breaks. If I do move I'll need to pick up my son from school. I could just have one long break in the afternoon instead of the two short ones," James said.

Matt sighed, "very well, if Starfleet find out I'm doing this they wont be happy, but ok."

"Then there's no chance that you'll talk to the others?" James questioned.

Matt frowned, "about what?"

"Well usually I can put up with petty insults and stuff, but the guys are making it difficult for me to work with them," James replied.

"I see, you're used to hitting people who insult you?" Matt smirked.

James looked uncomfortable, "yeah exactly."

"Fine, I'll have a word with them on your day off. If you don't get one, I'll talk to them tomorrow," Matt said.

Stephen walked over to the two, "I hope you're not complaining about me."

"No I can put up with you," James said.

Stephen smiled, "cool.. you still want that shuttle ride to Shield Row?"

"Well yeah, I only asked you an hour ago," James replied.

"I know, just checking," Stephen grinned. He walked off.

"He didn't notice I was lying, did he?" James questioned. Matt smirked again, he walked off himself.

**Durham, Shield Row:**  
Stephen's shuttle landed in the middle of a quiet housing estate. Most of the houses were vandalised and empty, the ones that weren't empty were not damaged.

James and Stephen headed out of the shuttle, Stephen stopped just outside it. "Are you sure you don't want a lift back? It'll take a while to walk back, you'd have to detour around the crater, and that will add an extra ten minutes to your walk."

"Fine, ten to one?" James sighed. Stephen nodded his head. "Thanks, see you then."

Stephen headed back into the shuttle, the door closed behind him. James headed towards one of the undamaged houses, once he got there he knocked on the door. Not long later a middle aged woman answered it. She glanced at him looking suspicious, "yes, what can I do for you?"

"Uh well.. wait you don't recognise me?" James stuttered.

"No but I rarely speak to men. Are you sure you got the right house?" the woman grumbled.

"Now I am," James muttered to himself. "I don't get why you don't recognise me."

"It's probably because we haven't met before," the woman said.

"We have, I guess it has been sixteen years.." James said.

"Sixteen, hmm," the woman frowned. "Back then my two daughters weren't even married, the only male I knew was.. no you're not him."

"Only two got married? I bet one was Ali, right?" James commented.

The woman stared at him in shock, "oh god.. you can't be James."

"Well that's what my birth certificate says.. so I've heard. Too bad I don't have it," James said.

The woman smiled, still in shock, "my goodness, you've changed since I last saw you."

"I wish I knew that earlier," James muttered.

The woman, for goodness sake lets call her Sarah, got out of the way of the door, "come on in."

**Meanwhile, Indiana:**  
Jessie walked down the stairs looking like she had just gotten out of bed. She heard a loud knock on the door, she groaned while picking up some speed, not much though. Eventually she reached the door and opened it. "Lena, do you have any idea what time it is!?"

Lena shrugged, "twelve.." She walked into the house, "you know you're suppose to get out of bed while it's still morning."

Jessie closed the door, "it is morning here."

"Huh?" Lena muttered. It then hit her, "oh right, Indiana's five hours behind us. Sorry."

"I guess it doesn't matter, I'll have to get used to your timezone anyway," Jessie grumbled, heading for the living room.

Lena followed her, "oh are you moving?"

"Maybe, it depends whether we're allowed to move into our old family home," Jessie replied. She sat down on the sofa.

"Oh, ok that narrows it down to the ones in Durham and old Manchester. I wouldn't recommend the second one," Lena said.

"Believe me, if I didn't have kids I'd be already living there," Jessie muttered.

"Durham's not that bad, is it?" Lena questioned as she sat down next to her.

"No the place is great, mostly, it's the last remaining family member in the house," Jessie replied.

"Oh yeah, she kicked you out of it, didn't she?" Lena said.

"Kinda, I knew she would so in a way I kicked myself out, I was looking for a way to escape for years," Jessie said.

Lena looked confused, "but in your story you said you moved cos you had no choice."

"I also said that James' first words to me were something like 'what is this school like'. I think that was it. Oh and I also said that once James was in Manchester I was on my own," Jessie said.

"Oh yeah, Danny. Didn't notice that," Lena said.

"She moved there before I did, but I still put up with her for a while," Jessie said.

"So what were James' first words to you?" Lena asked.

Jessie quietly laughed, "if I tell you, you'll never leave him alone about it. I don't hate him."

"Hey, I wouldn't.. he was about four so I wouldn't," Lena said innocently. Jessie glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "Depends what it is."

"You can ask him yourself. What I said he said in the story, that was the third thing he said to me," Jessie said.

Lena started to laugh, "oh, so does that mean you were lying about stabbing that girl?"

"Nope," Jessie replied.

Lena stopped laughing, "oh.. wow."

"The whole fight was accurate Lena. It may seem bad to you but you've got to understand, I was bullied for about two years non stop. I did give them the silence treatment for that long you know," Jessie said.

"Ok ok, I did think that part was pretty cool," Lena said.

"Good," Jessie sighed, she sat back.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?" Lena asked.

"James promised we'd go out somewhere, the whole family. Well you know, the four of us," Jessie replied.

Lena glanced down at her hands, "oh right."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you came too," Jessie said.

"No it's not that, we just need help in Manchester," Lena said.

"Oh. We're hoping to move as soon as possible. Once we're in England I'd imagine he'd be off to Manchester with you some nights," Jessie said.

Lena nodded, "yeah but how soon? We think there's a nest somewhere, not one of us are familiar enough with the city and it's huge. James used to live there so he would know."

"Hmm really, when I talked to him the one time while we were separated, he mentioned he kept getting lost," Jessie said.

"Ugh typical," Lena groaned.

"Well after that he was there for another six years, he probably stopped getting lost after I left," Jessie said.

"Lets hope so, or he'll be just an extra person to cover a part of the city," Lena muttered.

**Shield Row:**  
Sarah walked into a large living room holding two cups, she handed one to James. "I hope this stuff doesn't have the same affect on you as it did when you were a kid."

"Uh why?" James questioned.

Sarah sat down next to him on the sofa. "Well I suppose I'm not going to give you an entire jar of the stuff. We're probably ok."

"I had an entire jar once?" James asked slowly.

Sarah tried to keep a straight face, "you were six or something, we had to take you to the doctor after two days to get sedatives."

James pouted angrily, "great, don't tell that to anyone else."

"Well a few of my friends know about it. I can promise not to tell them again if you want," Sarah said.

"Yes please," James muttered, he had a sip of the coffee.

"So, any big news I need to know?" Sarah questioned.

"You first. Which two got married?" James asked.

Sarah sighed, "Alison and Zoe. Zoe told me about Ali, we haven't talked for ages so I haven't met her husband. I know she has two sons though."

"I thought you would of banned them from getting married or something," James said.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "ohno, I just warned Zoe about it before she made a date for the wedding. Of course I haven't seen Ali for thirteen years."

"What about Trisha?" James asked.

"Ah, she followed my example and remained single. She's a member of Starfleet now you know," Sarah replied, smiling proudly.

"No I didn't know, that's good," James said.

Sarah looked uneasy, "I'm surprised those three were the first you asked about. I thought Jessie was your favourite."

"Uh yeah well um.." James stuttered, also looking uneasy. "You asked about me didn't you?"

Sarah frowned, "yes, yes I did."

"Well I am beating both Zoe and Ali, and was catching up with Trisha for a while," James said.

"You, Starfleet? Who'd have thought," Sarah said, giggling slightly.

"Thanks but Susy made me join the prep college. I joined the Marquis when she died, and ended up on Voyager," James muttered.

"Ah I see, that's why you haven't made contact until now," Sarah sighed. "You called your 'mum' Susy, I'm guessing you found out the truth about her."

"Yeah I did, but not that long ago," James replied.

"It came up a few times during the custody trials we kept having. Have you met your mother yet?" Sarah asked.

"She was Voyager's Captain," James replied.

"But I thought a Captain Janeway was in charge, your mother was Kathy Williams," Sarah said, looking confused.

"Fake name," James said.

"Oh.. that explains why it was difficult to get in contact with her," Sarah said.

"So how many Kathy Williams were bothered during those trials?" James asked.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "ok ok, probably a few. That doesn't matter, what I want to know about is the wife and kids. You said you were beating Zoe and Ali."

"Ok, well my wife's pregnant with our third child. We already have one son and one daughter," James said.

Sarah sighed, "oh that's another boy I'm going to have to get used to. Apart from being pregnant, what is the wife like?"

James looked rather uncomfortable, "um well.."

**Later that day, Indiana:**  
"No I'm not watching that cheesy crap again!" Duncan snapped, he grabbed the remote off Sasha.

"But mummy said I could watch it," Sasha pouted.

"I don't care, I'm sick of that damn dog family singing about maths. I've done enough maths ok," Duncan grumbled. He used the remote to put Pokémon on.

"What's this?" Sasha asked as she watched the TV.

"Duh, it's Pokémon," Duncan rolled his eyes. A smile appeared on his face, "oh yeah.. there's a lot of cute animals in it."

"Ooh," Sasha's eyes lit up. "Lets watch this." She sat down in front of the TV.

Duncan grinned, "heh I win." He sat down next to her.

Jessie walked into the room, "you two aren't fighting again are you?"

"No mum," they both replied.

"Must be hearing things," Jessie muttered, she went over to the sofa to sit down.

The door to the living room opened, James walked in. "I come bearing good and bad news."

Jessie climbed back onto her feet, "bad first."

"Sarah decided to make it harder for me to hide the fact that I'm married to you. Plus she hasn't changed a bit.. she still hates men, her and Ali haven't made up yet and I doubt she'll be happy about us being married at all," James said.

Jessie groaned, "great. What's the good news?"

"Well since I had to lie to her we can move in tomorrow if we wanted to," James replied.

"That's the only good news?" Jessie questioned.

"Oh sorry, I managed to get half a day off plus I can pick up Duncan no problem from school," James replied.

Duncan groaned, "damn it."

James glanced over at him. "Oh I'm sorry," he muttered sarcastically.

Jessie shook her head, "don't take it personally, he was hoping that he wouldn't have to go to school."

"I doubt that would happen," James said. "Oh, Ali and Zoe got married."

"Really? How did their husbands avoid a brutal slaughtering from mummy dearest?" Jessie asked.

"Ali hasn't seen her in thirteen years and Zoe's husband, I don't know, maybe he's tough," James replied.

"Thirteen years ago? That's when I last saw her, I least I have an excuse," Jessie said.

"Yeah well.." James said. "So, what do you think?"

"What makes you think she'll not be happy about us being married? It's not like you just asked her," Jessie asked.

"It maybe just me being paranoid but she seemed a bit uneasy everytime she mentioned you," James replied.

Jessie groaned, "well that's just great." She sat back down on the sofa.

"Jess we should just move there. There's plenty of houses around our old place that's abandoned and run down, we can get a few people to fix one of them up. At least then we wont have to wait long for a new place," James said. "It's not really her business what we do now anyway, I've been separate from her since I was fourteen, and you were seventeen when you left."

Jessie rolled her eyes, "I know that, but she'll still give us a hard time. She might change her mind."

"She wont. She's agreed to it now, besides if she does we can go evil, kill her and take the house anyway," James said jokingly.

Jessie's eyes lit up, "ooh really?"

"No it was a joke," James replied.

"Don't get my hopes up like that again," Jessie pouted.

**The next day,** **Stephen's shuttle:**  
"I wish I'd thought this through," James muttered. He had Duncan on his knee, asleep.

Jessie yawned, "yeah, it would of been a good idea." She had Sasha on hers.

James carefully leaned over to press a few buttons on the console. "I should of booked the afternoon off, it still would of been early for you guys though."

"It's ok, we can get this over with quicker," Jessie sighed. "How did you convince Stephen to let you borrow his shuttle?"

"Convince? I didn't.." James said.

Jessie groaned, "you didn't threaten him did you?"

"Not the usual way no," James replied.

"Fine, I'm too tired to be bothered," Jessie muttered.

The console started beeping, "getting ready to land now."

"Already?" Jessie said, yawning.

"Yeah, if you look to the right you'll see what's left of Tanfield and Tantobie," James said.

"Great," Jessie sarcastically said, she looked anyway.

**Shield Row:**  
The shuttle landed nearby the house again. Sarah was waiting outside the door, she headed towards the shuttle as the doors opened. James stepped out of it on his own. "You're early," Sarah commented.

"A little too early, the kids are asleep," James said.

Duncan followed him out of the shuttle, yawning, "why is it so bright here?"

"I told you, it's late morning here," James replied.

"Oh yeah," Duncan yawned.

"Ok Duncan while you're awake, this is Sarah," James said as he glanced over at Sarah.

She smiled, "hello there." She glanced back at James. "Did you just clone yourself?"

James frowned, "no."

"Well he looks a bit like you when you were eight," Sarah said.

"Don't insult my son like that," James grumbled.

Sarah laughed, "you haven't changed a bit."

"Can you make up your mind about that?" James muttered as he headed back into the shuttle. Sarah followed him shaking her head.

Jessie stood up holding Sasha, "I don't suppose you'll need a hand right?"

"No it's fine," James replied.

"That remains to be seen," Sarah muttered. James and Jessie turned to look at her.

**Danny & Ian's club:**  
Ian walked into the back room. "Dan we have a problem."

"No we don't, I already interviewed the drunk guy. I was rather bored," Danny said.

"Um different problem Dan, the drunk guy's been chucked out," Ian said.

"Oh, then what is it?" Danny asked.

"The next guy has nine years cooking experience on a starship, he's alien, he worked alone, has unique recipe's to offer," Ian replied.

"That sounds familiar," Danny muttered.

Neelix burst into the room, "hello I'm here for the chef job, and maybe the dancer job."

"Oh I get you.." Danny muttered. "Ian, bring back the drunk guy."

**Shield Row:**  
Sarah sat down on the sofa looking a little pale, "so lets recap, shall we? You two are married, with two children?"

"Actually we hired the two kids from our friends, also I put on a lot of weight," Jessie muttered sarcastically.

Sarah got back onto her feet, "don't make fun of me. I can't believe you did this even after all the warnings I gave you."

"What warnings?" James asked.

"Stay out of this," Sarah snapped.

"I thought I was in this," James rolled his eyes.

"You're just going to have to get used to it. We don't care that you think it's wrong or whatever," Jessie grumbled.

Sarah groaned, "what the hell were you thinking?"

"In the last ten years.. oh, I don't know. You'll have to be more specific," Jessie said. "I don't have to explain myself to you anyway, I'm thirty and you abandoned me when I was seventeen."

"But he's your brother Jessie," Sarah snapped.

"No he's not," Jessie moaned. "We have totally different parents.. true our dads are similar, his is more violent and deader but they're different.."

"For crying out loud," James muttered to himself.

"Technically he is your brother. If I had known this would happen I wouldn't of even let you two share a room when you were little. This just sickens me," Sarah grumbled.

"Maybe in pre-teens he was like a big brother to me, but when we became close friends he wasn't like that.." Jessie said.

"Oh I see, you're trying to tell me now that those rumours I heard off your headmaster were true," Sarah muttered in disgust.

"Uh.. what rumours?" James asked.

"What kind of person do you think I am!" Jessie screamed.

Sarah shrugged, "a little whore who married her brother."

"He's not my brother, get over it ok!" Jessie snapped right back.

"Guys, you're going to wake up Sasha," James said.

"Hmm yes, I do feel sorry for those kids, I really do," Sarah muttered.

"I don't know why I bother saying anything," James muttered, he headed out of the room.

Jessie sat down on one of the chairs, "you couldn't just let it go, could you?"

"It's hard to. You are my daughter, I'm allowed to care about you," Sarah said.

"Right, I care about my kids but I'm not going to scream at them, and chase them away from home when they start dating," Jessie grumbled, folding her arms.

"Oh you will yell at them when they go out with the wrong person," Sarah said.

"Yeah but after what you put me through, I know what not to do if they did," Jessie said.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "so you were seeing him back then."

"No, I told you the truth back then. There was just two kisses, that's it," Jessie said.

"Then why did you leave home. I wasn't going to throw you out," Sarah questioned.

"Oh you were," Jessie muttered. "Besides you were driving me crazy with all that brother and sister rubbish."

"So, where did you go? Running off to him?" Sarah asked.

"I had nowhere else to go, did I?" Jessie snapped in response.

Sasha came into the room, "why is it so bright here?"

"I think we'll talk about this later," Sarah sighed.

"Oh no we wont," Jessie said. Sasha walked over to her. "Sorry honey, it's bright here because it's morning here."

"Why's that?" Sasha asked while yawning.

"It's hard to explain," Jessie replied.

"Oh by the way, you and James may as well have your old room back. It's a guest room for Zoe and her husband so it seems right, not that I approve of it mind," Sarah said.

"Duncan and Sasha will have Trish and Zoe's room then, good," Jessie said.

Sarah headed towards one of the doors, James and Duncan came back into the room.

"This one's not far away is it?" Duncan asked.

"No, it's just a five minute walk away," James replied. "The biggest problem we have is explaining the spell story."

"Janeway's old school believed it," Jessie said.

"Well it accepted her so it must accept everybody," James said as he took two coats off the side of the sofa. He handed Duncan the smaller one. "We'll see you later, try not to argue so much."

"I'll try," Jessie sighed.

******To be continued******


	3. Chapter 3

**Sundown**

**Written //** 20th, 29th - 31st May & 4th June 2004

------------

**Shield Row Primary School:**  
James and Duncan were sitting in a small area. Nearby there was a reception desk, a young woman was working on a computer there.

The door next to the desk opened, a nine year old lad stepped through it, "I don't need therapy, screw you!" He glanced at reception just in time to catch the woman glance at him. "What are you looking at!" He stormed out of sight.

"Charming young man isn't he?" the receptionist commented.

"You can't complain about me anymore," Duncan muttered.

"What makes you think that?" James questioned.

Duncan folded his arms and pouted, "forget it, you're mean."

The receptionist looked back up from her computer, "Mr Stuart, Mr Patterson will see you now."

"Patterson? Oh no," James muttered as he got up.

Duncan looked at him, puzzled, "what?"

"He was my headmaster, we'll have to sit as far away from him as possible," James replied.

Duncan jumped off his seat, "why?"

"He spits when he talks," James replied.

Duncan looked disgusted, "eew, the Doctor programmed himself to do that once, it was gross."

"He still does that I'm afraid," the receptionist said. "Not your doctor, I meant Patterson."

"Lets get this over with," James muttered, he headed into the office, Duncan followed him looking worried. They both sat down opposite the tall thin man, who was standing behind the desk looking at a PADD.

Patterson sat down in the chair, still looking at the PADD. "I've enrolled two generations worth of students and I must say, I've never seen a stranger record than yours Duncan."

Duncan glanced at James, "um.. whatever that teacher said about me hitting kids, that was untrue. She's a cow and hates me."

Patterson smiled as he put the PADD down, "oh believe me, if that was the reason why your record seems strange to me, somebody must of erased my memory of your fathers."

"It wasn't that bad," James said, looking uncomfortable.

"Uh huh," Patterson muttered. He shook his head, "we'll have to work on that bad behaviour Duncan, as your dad will know, we only have one nurse."

"That nurse is still working here?" James questioned.

"No no, but we've always had just one nurse. It's a small school after all," Patterson replied.

"Well that shouldn't be a problem, I don't hit people," Duncan said.

James tried not to laugh, "next you'll be telling me that your grandma doesn't like coffee."

"She does so, where have you been?" Duncan said, shaking his head. He then got it, "oh, hey.. I'm good."

"We'll see about that, wont we," Patterson said. "Now back to the strangeness of your record. Your date of birth says you're two years old, three in April, and I found that odd as my youngest student is four. Then I was surprised to hear that you've been getting schooling on your ship while still in nursery."

"That was Tom's fault, I always hated him," Duncan grumbled.

"Who's Tom?" Patterson questioned.

"He's married to Duncan's surrogate mum, long story," James replied.

Patterson frowned, "I see. Well he does look seven to me, which may explain why the Indiana school let Duncan skip to a Year Four class. Did they not check his date of birth?"

"I wasn't around when he was enrolled, I'm not sure," James replied.

"Ok but the strangest part of the record says that he kept up with the classes very well. Also he is as mature as any seven or eight year old can get.. I don't understand how he is two yet looks and acts seven," Patterson said.

"Well it was my mum, she did.. accidentally, she's a.." Duncan blurted out.

James cleared his throat, "Duncan, what did I say about the itch word?"

"I wasn't going to say bitch dad, I do like her you know," Duncan grumbled.

"That wasn't the word I meant," James said.

"Oh.. I must of fell asleep when you warned me about that," Duncan muttered.

Patterson frowned as he worked on his computer, "hmm, Jessica Rex is a witch? That I didn't know."

"Mum's real name is Jessica.. funny," Duncan giggled.

"I wouldn't say to her," James said.

"So this is the work of a spell?" Patterson questioned.

"Not exactly. He looks seven because of a spell, but he always seemed older than he was," James replied.

Patterson sighed, "well if he's used to Year Four classes he can be enrolled. We'll have to do something about that aggression, but we've got plenty of time to do that."

"I doubt two years is plenty of time," James said.

Duncan pouted, "hey."

"That's the thing, we'll have about seven years, not two," Patterson said.

"But I thought you were putting him in Year Four, and didn't primary finish after six years?" James said.

"You're right, the problem is I doubt any of the comprehensive school's will accept a five year old. You can tell them then that he's just the same as any ten year old, but it's not enough," Patterson said. "He'd have to stay behind each year group at least once until he's old enough. He could just finish at five like you thought, and stay out of school for five years but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Do you realise that the whole class will give somebody who looks five years older a hard time? I didn't have to do anything to start getting bullied," James said. "Plus he'll be too mature for Year Seven then."

"I know it sounds grisly, but the best idea is to wait until 2381 to enroll him, in Year One of course. That way he'll be with his own age the whole time, and he wont have to stay here as long," Patterson said.

"You're kidding right?" James said. "You want him to go to a class next year where they'll be learning the alphabet? He's already learning long multiplication, no teacher would recommend doing this."

"Well it's either that or stay here for seven years instead of six. Of course you could give him a five year break but give him private tutorage until comprehensive," Patterson said.

James sighed, "I don't know, it shouldn't be this hard." He looked down at Duncan. "What do you want Dunc?"

He looked up at him, "you're asking me?"

"It's your future, not mine. What would you rather do?" James questioned.

"I dunno. The easier one is start next year, it wont be that bad could it?" Duncan replied.

"Are you sure? You know what kids in that class will be like, think of Kirsty and Kyle.. except dumber," James said. "Besides when I was your age I was as mature as a baby who hadn't reached his first birthday yet. I know my dad was scary but that's no excuse."

Patterson nodded his head, "I have to agree, I've never seen many two year olds like Duncan. Also when I enrolled your dad I thought his parents just wanted rid of him a year early or something, no offense of course."

"Nah don't worry about it, my dad did want rid of me when I was three," James said.

Duncan groaned, "I don't wanna repeat a whole year group at least once. What I chose is better."

"Well actually the better way is to continue school in Year Four, go through primary normally. Once you leave your mum and I can teach you during the five year break. By that time your mum might know how to change you back," James said.

"It still doesn't solve the maturity problem. He'll be with students who are his age but some may seem a bit young to him," Patterson said.

"But they wont bully him for looking older than them," James said.

Duncan nodded, "actually that is good. If they act like annoying brats there's more excuses to hit them.." Patterson and James stared at him. "To er, grass on them.. yeah."

Patterson shook his head, "we'll still work on that aggression problem." He glanced over at James, "but is it actually curable?"

"No, it's actually infectious.." James replied. Patterson looked confused. "Jessie caught it."

"Oh dear, she was such a sweet girl too," Patterson muttered.

Duncan sniggered, "right, mum sweet, never."

"Stop it, you both make her seem like the devil or something," James grumbled.

"I didn't, I just can't imagine mum acting like Sasha all the time," Duncan said.

"You obviously don't want to imagine it," James said.

Duncan's eyes widened, "oh my god.. so glad mum's not like that now."

Patterson sighed, "can you bring him here tomorrow before nine?"

"No I can't, I have to be at work at eight. Someone else will take him," James replied.

"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow Duncan," Patterson said.

Duncan frowned, "you're not my teacher are you?"

Patterson laughed, "no no, I'll show you to your class. I don't have time now as I'm late for a meeting."

"That sounds like fun," Duncan muttered sarcastically.

"Actually it is. Did you see that abusive young man that was before you?" Patterson asked.

"Yeah," Duncan and James replied.

"I'm meeting his new therapist," Patterson said.

"Wow, I didn't start getting therapists until I was fifteen," James commented as he got up. "Come on Duncan, lets get home before your mother kills Sarah."

Duncan jumped off the chair, "ok, why are they arguing anyway?"

James headed out of the office, "you don't want to know." Duncan followed him pulling a face.

**New Manchester, Lena/Sandi's flat:**  
Lena walked into a small bedroom, "and this is your room."

Yasmin followed her into the room, "it's awfully small."

"Yeah, it used to be a big cupboard," Lena said.

Yasmin stared at her, "you're giving me a cupboard."

"Do you want to live with Kevin?" Lena asked.

Yasmin pouted, "no."

"Then enjoy your cupboard," Lena said. She walked back out. The computer on the table started beeping, she rushed over to it and pressed a button.

Sandi glanced over from the kitchen area, "what is it?"

Lena sighed, "James, he's joining us tonight."

"Oh good, maybe he knows what happened to that old shoe shop in the town centre," Sandi said.

Lena frowned, "from a few hundred years ago?"

"Ok fine, what about the Trafford, is that still here?" Sandi questioned.

Lena groaned, "that's the last place we want to be."

**Later that day, Shield Row:**  
Jessie watched as James emptied the contents of a large bag onto a bed, the contents was just weapons. "I'm sorry Jess, I didn't think I'd have to start working so soon."

"It's ok, sooner the better right?" Jessie muttered.

"Yeah that's what I thought," James said as he sorted through the weapons.

"You'll be back early right, this wont take long.." Jessie questioned.

"I don't know. There's not many places the vamps can nest so probably not," James replied.

"Oh good, so you'll be back before the kids go to bed," Jessie said.

"No, I doubt it will be that quick," James said.

Jessie's face dropped, "oh.. maybe I'll go to bed after the kids do."

James looked up at her, "what's wrong?"

Jessie looked uneasy, "nothing it's just.."

"You don't want to be left alone with Sarah. That's it, isn't it?" James said.

"Believe me James, that was a tame response. Once you're gone and the kids are fast asleep she'll start on me, full power," Jessie said.

"Sorry Jess, I'll get back as quick as I can," James said. He continued to go through the weapons. "So what was the rumour she mentioned?"

"Nothing.. it wasn't true, obviously," Jessie stuttered in response.

James sighed, "you can tell me later. The sooner I get going the sooner I get back, hopefully."

"Hopefully?" Jessie muttered.

"It's a big city Jess, remember. I still managed to get lost before I left," James said.

"Early night tonight then. Great, it's just like going to bed at tea time, damn timezones," Jessie muttered.

"I wouldn't. You're not a kid anymore, I'm sure you'll be ok," James said.

"I guess.." Jessie sighed.

James finished sorting the weapons out, what was left he put back into the bag. After dumping it under the bed he headed over to where Jessie was standing. "The kids still need to get used to the different timezone, try putting them to bed at eleven instead of nine. That'll give you an extra two hours."

"Good idea," Jessie smiled weakly.

"I'll see you later then," James said. He kissed her on the forehead, "try not to kill Sarah while I'm gone." He walked out of the room.

Jessie pouted, "I'll try."

**Later, New Manchester:**  
Lena, James, Sandi and Kevin were standing nearby the table, the computer was sitting on it closer to Lena. She pressed a few buttons, a large map of Manchester came up on the screen. "Ok the illuminated parts are the places we've already covered."

"Trouble is the game destroyed a lot of the entrances to the underground. If they're there we're going to have a problem," Sandi said.

"Where did the game land?" James asked.

Lena keyed in a command, a large square started flashing over a large part of the map. "There, right next to the city centre."

"It destroyed most of it, killing thousands. It had to be evacuated, trouble is another game arrived but actually was won," Sandi said.

"That's how the vamps got there," James muttered.

"Yep. I'm still reeling from the vampires were actually created by the games news. This was a pretty big shock," Kevin said.

Sandi patted him on the shoulder, "there there."

Kevin rolled his eyes, "er, thanks."

"How long have they been here?" James asked.

Lena sighed, "the second game landed a week after the first."

"I know, but no one told me when Manchester was partially destroyed," James said.

"Oh, over seven years ago," Lena replied.

"So they could be nested in a much larger place, or several small ones," James said.

"I doubt that. We've took out plenty of them in the past few months, plus the city is protected by a shield so nothing but us can get in or out. There's nothing to feed on so they couldn't really breed," Sandi said.

"True but Starfleet may have left all the dead behind in the rush, and there could of been people still in there. Vamps probably can live on each other for a long time," James said.

Lena nodded, "that's true, plus a few games have been in the city since then."

"Still we can't be looking at many now," Kevin said.

Lena folded her arms, "you explain why the numbers haven't gotten smaller since you started patrolling there."

"I can't. They can't be breeding, they should be dying of starvation by now," Kevin said.

Sandi glanced out of the window briefly, "it's nearly sundown, we need to assign areas. It's the only way we're going to cover the whole city."

"The city is bigger than this, is this just what the shield covers?" James questioned, eyeing the computer screen.

Lena frowned, "yeah it is. Outside is just parts of places like Salford, they weren't really damaged but were evacuated anyway."

"Why weren't they surrounded by the shield?" James asked.

Lena shrugged, "I don't know, we've seen no vampires outside the shield anyway."

Sandi pointed at a part of the map, "the opening is just there. There's a small control centre nearby, they allow people to enter. Trouble is a part of the shield has to be lowered for a brief time."

"Luckily no vamps have tried anything, yet," Kevin said.

"The opening is in Salford," James said.

"Yeah, so?" Kevin said.

"I'm just saying," James muttered. "I could cover that side of the city, I know that part well."

"Right. We'll divide the city into four, each of us patrol assigned area. We could meet up in two hours to change over," Sandi said.

"Sounds good," Lena said.

"How come the Trafford has the shield around it?" James asked.

"It does? Where is it?" Sandi muttered.

"In the middle of nowhere, that's what surprises me," James replied.

"Maybe they didn't want to take any chances, it was a big place after all," Kevin said.

"Well now I know that it's in the vampire infested area, I may look for it," Sandi said.

James stared blankly at her, "you mean no one has looked in there."

Lena glanced slowly at Sandi and Kevin, "maybe we should change our plans, Sandi. We're going shopping."

"Finally," Sandi sighed.

**A little while later, outside the Trafford centre:**  
"Somebody tell me that they know their way around," Sandi muttered.

"Well I know it better than the actual designers and shop people probably did, does that help?" James said.

Sandi sighed, "yes actually."

"Well, we can split the centre into four like we planned for the whole city. We can meet up somewhere," Lena said.

Kevin glanced at James, "was the cinema still up when you last went there?"

"Cinema? In the Trafford?" James muttered.

"Obviously not," Kevin groaned.

"We can meet in the centre of the um, centre. There's a fountain there, it's easily spotted," James said.

Lena nodded, "right, we'll meet there."

"Two hours?" Sandi questioned.

James rolled his eyes, "it's just the Trafford centre Sandi."

"I know but they would of left all the stock cos of the rush," Sandi said. Everyone groaned.

Kevin looked disgusted, "eew, no one go to McDonalds or anything. It's not nice when it's just days old let alone seven years."

"Damn, there goes all my plans," James said sarcastically.

Lena smirked, "lets go."

**Inside the Trafford:**  
A small light shone on one of the broken store windows. Sandi walked closer to it, trying to see through the window. "Ooh, a clothes shop." She walked around to the door, which had fallen off, and went inside.

"Oooh these are nice," a girl's voice said near the back of the store.

"Only if you're a slapper," another girl's voice said.

"Well you know I am, duh," the first girl groaned.

Sandi pointed the torch she had at the back of the store, she then spotted two girls near a small pile of shoes. "Great, I hate it when people get to the sales before me."

The girls glanced at each other. "Who the hell are you?" one asked as she put on another high heeled shoe.

"I'm just here to shop," Sandi replied.

"Well beat it missy, we got here first," the girl snapped.

"I'm not shopping for cheap and nasty shoes," Sandi said, walking closer to the girls.

"I told you they were for slappers," the other girl said.

Sandi knelt down to pick up one of the high heeled shoes, "on second thought, these ones are nice."

"Really? I can't walk in those things," the second girl said.

The first girl frowned, "wait, she doesn't smell right.." Sandi quickly pushed the heel of the shoe into her, she turned to dust.

The other girl looked scared, "uh.. oh crap." She rushed towards the main door.

Sandi knelt down again, "this'll do." She picked up a black boot with a really long and thin heel then she got back onto her feet. The girl reached the door and turned to dust, the boot fell to the ground. "Cool, I'm a good shot."

Meanwhile Lena walked into a large open area where there were several restaurants. She shone the torch around the area, "great, there are lots of good places to nest here." She heard a voice nearby the pizza place and quickly turned to see who it was.

"Oh I'm from around, you know," Kevin said, leaning on the nearby wall. In front of him was a short blonde girl.

"Really, me too," the girl said.

Lena groaned as she walked over to the pair, "Kevin, how the hell did you get Chosen over so many potentials?"

Kevin turned his head to glare at her, "Lena.. I'm trying to score here."

"You're a Slayer, eugh," the girl groaned, she pushed him out of the way and started to walk off.

"See, now look what you've done," Kevin groaned.

Lena groaned as she passed the place where they kept the knives and forks, she picked up a knife as she did. "You still didn't answer my question Kevin." She plunged the knife into the girl as she started to pass her, she of course turned to dust.

"Hey you don't go pestering James, do you?" Kevin moaned.

"I don't recall Jessie ever replicating blood from a replicator, or biting people in the neck," Lena muttered.

Kevin's eyes lit up, "ooh ooh, that's it!"

"What?" Lena muttered.

"They must of replicated their blood, you know when they ran out of people," Kevin said.

Lena raised her eyebrow, "this city has been powerless for years."

Kevin's face dropped, "oh.. so much for that."

"Forget it, lets just check the kitchens and everything. They may be nesting there," Lena said.

**Meanwhile:**  
James reached the centre where the large fountain was standing, it now just looked like a statue that had seen better days, with an overflooded basin underneath it. Nearby there were two rusty escalators.

He pointed the torch at the top of the escalators, "nope, not going up there anytime soon."

A group of five came up not far behind him. "Oh don't worry, they wont collapse or anything. We use them all the time," one of them sneered.

James turned around, he groaned, "that's just great.."

"We're disappointed, we thought the Slayers would find this place sooner than this," the one who appeared to be the leader said.

"Find this place? It stands out a mile," another guy commented.

"Um excuse me, but are we going to kill him sometime today?" a girl grumbled.

James groaned, "I've kinda died here before, there's probably a rule or something."

The leader stepped forward, "really, right here. Well if you want we could just kill you, over there or upstairs maybe."

"Upstairs will be fine," James said.

One of the guys grinned, "this is easier than I thought."

The leader stared at him, "shut up you idiot." He slapped him across the head. "Upstairs it is."

James smiled, "yes it is."

**A few minutes later:**  
The dumb guy screamed as he was thrown over the banister on the next floor, he fell into the fountain.

The girl sighed in relief, "oh thank god.. or whatever.." A knife flew into her chest, she glanced down at it looking annoyed. "I really should stop thanking that guy." She turned to dust.

"You know I was really dreading coming back here after my stepmother got murdered right here," James said. One of the vamps charged for him but he just knocked him to the floor with his arm. "But it's kinda good, I must of left some of my psycho nature behind."

The leader smiled, "I wouldn't get too cocky boy." A few more vampires gathered around. "See."

"Oh please, I knocked out ten guys here and killed two of them, and I was a crap fighter then," James said.

The leader smiled, "that's what I hate about Slayers, they all have more ego than brains."

"Are we just going to insult each other? I'm warning you now I can win that kind of fight as well," James muttered.

All the new vampires attacked him at once. He threw another one over the banister. One swung a fist at him but he ducked in time, instead he ended up punching one of the other vampires. "Oh sorry," he said.

"Meh it's ok," the punched one said. He turned to dust though.

James was about to kill the last vampire as the leader started to make his way over. He stopped looking rather shocked, he turned to dust at the same time as the other last vampire. James just stared at where the leader was, looking confused.

A man's voice coming from the top of the escalator startled him, "finally, that one was getting on my nerves." The man came towards him loading a crossbow. "Fine stay still, I have nothing against killing a soft one, though you did nearly win that one."

James stared at him with wide eyes, "John?"

The guy frowned at him, "wait, I've never seen you before, how do you know my name?"

"Second time this week, that's great," James muttered.

John lowered the crossbow as he stepped a little closer, "no I do know you."

"Oh for god's sake," James rolled his eyes. "We lived in the same house for six years."

John's face tightened, "oh, it's you." He put the crossbow by his side. "I'm surprised you came back at all."

"Wait I don't think you've guessed right, I'm.." James said.

"James I know," John said coldly.

"Ok so what's with the attitude?" James questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you think?" John grumbled.

"Enlighten me," James said.

"Isn't it obvious, have you even noticed the state of the city?" John snapped. He shook his head, "though you never did care about anyone else but yourself." James stared at him with wider eyes than before. John sighed, "you came in with three others, we should regroup back at the house."

**Salford:**  
John lead the way into a large but rundown house, and into a large living room. A middle aged woman was sitting on the sofa, she quickly got onto her feet. "John, you're back early." She eyed the others, "who are they?"

"The legendary Slayers. I could hardly believe it myself," John sarcastically said.

Lena stepped closer to James who was a little too busy glaring at nothing in particular. "Who is this guy?"

"Susy's husband, and he was like a dad to me," James muttered in response. Lena just looked more confused. "Like I said, was."

"The others will be back soon, you three may as well make yourselves at home," John said, glancing sternly at James as he did.

"Actually I'd rather have some answers," Sandi said. "How come you guys are here, I thought we were the only ones allowed in here."

The woman walked over, "we were here long before that shield was put up."

"We're here to get rid of the vampire threat and get the city back," John said.

"Seems to me like you're doing a great job," James sarcastically said.

John ignored him, "unfortunately the amount of vampires hasn't really gone down much, and I've only got six people left out of a hundred."

"That's what's been feeding the vamps for the last seven years," Lena muttered.

"Great, you guys wanted to get rid of the vampire threat but instead you've just increased it. Maybe it would of been better if you let things well enough alone," James said.

The woman glanced at John, "he's right."

John shook his head, "oh please, we wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for him."

"And why's that?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, why is this suddenly my fault?" James asked.

"Where should I start with that?" John muttered, he glanced over at the woman. "Where do you think, Lynn?"

The woman sighed, "John.."

"Ok maybe I'll start with the whole leaving Earth to chase after your precious girlfriend," John replied.

James rolled his eyes, "right, what has that got to do with what's happening now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" John snapped. He started to laugh, "that's typical of you, you still can't see what's right in front of you."

"Maybe you should explain it," James said.

"If you hadn't of left you might of been able to stop that Game from destroying the city. That is your job, right?" John grumbled.

"Yeah it is, but I didn't know that then," James said.

"Bull, you knew alright. If you didn't why the hell did you sneak out of the house nearly every night?" John snapped.

Kevin shrugged, "maybe he had a date."

"Is that what you told mum everytime you got caught?" Sandi asked.

"It was true most of the time," Kevin replied, grinning.

"Ugh, he's worse than you, I didn't think that was possible," John muttered.

"No James is worse than Kevin, he's slept with a girl, Kevin hasn't," Sandi pointed out.

Kevin glared at her, "Sandi, what did I tell you about that!?" She smiled sweetly at him.

"Ok guys, maybe you shouldn't help," James muttered.

"Doesn't make a difference to me. You knew what you had to do, but you threw it all away just for a stupid little girl," John said. "Thousands died that day, did you know? You could of stopped it."

"No I couldn't of. If I had seen a purple cube coming from the sky back then, I would of run for cover like everyone else," James said.

Lena nodded, "it's true, nobody told him about the Games. I had to."

"Now that we're finished with that, why don't we sort out your mess," James said.

"My mess? Don't give that claptrap about not knowing about the Games. You had a watcher, he would of told you if you hadn't of nicked off," John snapped.

"Oh please, that watcher was the one who cut Susy's throat," James snapped back.

"No it wasn't," Lena whispered.

James rolled his eyes again, "no but he was behind the whole thing."

John stared at him, "he killed Susy?"

"Actually Lena's boyfriend did," Kevin said.

Lena glared at him, "shut up Kevin."

"What, I thought it was conspiracy day," Kevin muttered.

"You're lying to cover your tracks," John muttered.

James laughed, "oh my god, you're blaming me for that too?"

John shrugged, "why not. You always went on about how much you hated her."

"Fine, believe what you want. The vampires nest will be in the Trafford, they like the underground. It was rather quiet until I got to where Susy died, there must be an opening near there," James said.

"Right. We'll go back," Lena said.

The nearby door burst open, some familiar faces joined them all in the room.

"What are you guys doing here?" James asked.

The newcomers all glanced at each other looking just as confused. "I could ask you the same thing," Stephen said.

Lena raised her eyebrow, "I think it's obvious."

Stephen looked nervous, "right, Slayer.. I get you."

"It's still a good question. Why after all this time do you care what happens to this city?" Johnny questioned.

"Ah I get it, this is why these guys have been treating me like crap ever since I started working. You've been telling them your stories, haven't you?" James grumbled in John's direction.

"They were very entertaining on slow nights," David commented.

Matt groaned, "David just shut up."

"So, you all fancy yourselves as a vampire slaying group, huh?" Sandi muttered.

"We are a resistance movement," Johnny said.

"Brilliant resistance. The natives probably call you the moron takeaway," James said.

Stephen pouted, "hey, what does that mean?"

"Well let me see, a group of a hundred stay behind in Manchester to get rid of the vampires. Now, seven years later there is only six of you left, and about ninety odd extra vamps. Well done," James replied.

"That's enough out of you," John snapped.

"We should just go back to the Trafford," Lena said.

James nodded, "yeah, good idea." He, Lena, Sandi and Kevin headed out of the room.

"Try not to get too many people killed this time," John said as the door slammed shut. "Ok everyone, they think they've found the nest we've been looking for. Collect your weapons, we're going to find it first."

"But if they know where it is how are we going to do that?" Stephen asked.

"They don't know exactly, we just have a general area," John replied.

"Sounds good," David said.

******To be continued******


	4. Chapter 4

**Sundown**

**Written //** 20th, 29th - 31st May & 4th June 2004

------------

**Shield Row:**  
Jessie, Duncan and Sasha were all sitting on the sofa watching a Disney movie. Well Sasha was watching, Duncan was staring at the wall near the TV while Jessie was falling asleep, so it looked.

"Mum," Sasha said.

"What?" Jessie muttered.

Duncan groaned, "here we go."

"Why does that guy try to steal the lamp? Can't he just ask for it after Aladdin's finished with it?" Sasha asked.

"Cos he's a bad guy Sasha. It would be a dull movie if he just asked," Duncan muttered.

"I guess that's an, ok explanation," Jessie said. "The proper one is that he's power hungry, evil and he wanted it in the first place anyway."

"Oh, so why didn't he get it himself?" Sasha asked.

"Disney movies make bad guys seem cowardly," Jessie replied.

Duncan shrugged, "and once again, it would be a dull movie if he got it straight away."

Jessie rolled her eyes, "Duncan.."

"What?" Duncan innocently said.

"Why do they do that anyway?" Sasha asked as she pointed at the TV.

"Well they have to sing a song, it's a Disney movie," Duncan replied.

"No why does the girl suddenly like him now after the song?" Sasha asked. She pointed at the TV again, "and why does everyone have to do that?"

Duncan climbed off the sofa, "I'm going to bed." He walked out of the room, Sarah passed him as she entered the room.

Jessie tried to keep a straight face, "um.. don't you remember, she met him in the market place and she liked him then. And people do that when they really like each other."

"Oh," Sasha said. Jessie sighed in relief. "But she still likes him too soon, why's that?"

"I don't know, some people fall in love at first sight," Jessie groaned.

"That's stupid," Sasha muttered. She looked up at her, "I mean is there anyone you know that liked someone that quickly?"

"Uh.. yeah, Craig, but he likes a lot of girls," Jessie replied. She sighed, "and Kevin."

"No I mean is there any couples that did?" Sasha asked.

Jessie groaned, "honey, just watch the movie please."

"I thought so, you don't know any," Sasha giggled.

"It's funny that you didn't mention you and James," Sarah commented.

Jessie groaned again, "we liked each other straight away but that's it."

Sarah smiled, "you and Ali used to watch this movie all the time."

Jessie glanced back at her, "we did?"

Sarah walked over to sit on the side of the sofa, "yes and I remember you asking silly questions too."

"Like what?" Jessie questioned, looking nervous.

"Let me see, you asked why Jasmine had her hair like that, why it was only three wishes, and there's the most famous question," Sarah replied. Jessie stared blankly at her. "You know, the one Sasha must of asked earlier. Why did Jasmine suddenly start liking Aladdin I'd wager."

"Well what were the answers then?" Jessie muttered.

"Well Ali and I answered them, Ali said her hair was an accident and the bobbles were falling out. I said there were three cos it fitted the movie," Sarah said.

"What about the other question?" Sasha asked.

"Your dad answered it I think, it was the first time he saw it, he said Aladdin had wished it, and he called him a pervert. Of course you had no idea what one was so I grounded him as you kept asking," Sarah replied.

"Oh so you punished him," Jessie muttered.

"Yes I did," Sarah said. "Of course I let him watch the rest of the movie, big mistake."

"Mum, what is a pervert?" Sasha asked.

Jessie glared at Sarah, "you're grounded."

Sarah groaned, "you can't ground me."

Sasha pouted, "mum, what is it?"

"Boys like Kevin who follow girls around a lot," Jessie replied.

"Oh.. how is Aladdin one?" Sasha asked.

"He isn't, when your dad was younger he just said it," Jessie groaned.

"Oh, I don't like this movie," Sasha muttered. She climbed off the sofa.

"Finally," Jessie sighed, she turned the TV off. She noticed Sasha heading for the door. "Where are you going?"

"To bug Duncan," Sasha replied. She left the room.

Sarah shook her head as she sat down where Sasha was sitting earlier. "She's a lovely girl," she said, trying not to laugh.

"Was there a point to that?" Jessie asked.

"A point to what?" Sarah said.

"What you said when you came in," Jessie said.

"Oh right," Sarah sighed. "It was just a comment."

"Good, cos I really can't be bothered to talk about that anymore," Jessie said.

"Jessie you know that you'd react the same way if the roles were reversed," Sarah said.

"I would?" Jessie said, bewildered.

"Well yes, you were always so naive, you'd believe anything you were told," Sarah said.

"Remind you of someone," Jessie muttered.

"I'm not naive, I have a good reason to believe that rumour," Sarah said.

"Well it has to be a good reason, doesn't it? Doesn't it occur to you that the rumour was unrealistic, for one thing James was pretty freaked out still about what happened between him and Angela," Jessie said.

"I know, but it's natural for him to turn to his best friend. It's been known to happen," Sarah said.

Jessie groaned, "ugh, you're just sick."

"How am I sick, you sleep together now don't you? It's not like you've not went near him at all," Sarah muttered.

Jessie stared blankly at her, "we were fourteen year olds and you thought we had slept together, that's why I think you're sick."

"Jess, I know it's sick but stuff like that does happen," Sarah said.

"Well it didn't happen between us. We kissed twice, that's it. We pretended to have a relationship to fool his stepmother when we were in Manchester, but we still didn't get together until we were in our twenties," Jessie grumbled.

"Yes but.." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"For god's sake I was twenty one or something when I realised I wasn't freaked out about it anymore. Do you really expect me to have done that when I was fourteen?" Jessie questioned.

"It did make a little sense," Sarah replied.

"Some mother you are, you don't even know me," Jessie muttered.

"I do, I knew that you weren't interested in boys back then so I started to doubt it. It's just you came back here after thirteen years married to him, with two kids, you can't blame me for thinking that," Sarah said.

"For crying out loud, we didn't sleep together until we were twenty two. You're sick for thinking we did such a thing when we were both still kids," Jessie grumbled.

Sarah glanced at her, "twenty two?"

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Jessie snapped in response.

"Well it's a decent age, so no, not really," Sarah muttered. "Though was he your first?"

Jessie groaned, "oh my god, you do think I'm just a general slut, don't you?"

"I take that as a yes," Sarah muttered.

"Look if you hated me so much you should of chucked me out sooner," Jessie said.

"What makes you think that I hate you?" Sarah asked.

"Well you obviously think I was a twisted and very disturbed child back then," Jessie muttered in response.

Sarah sighed, "no I don't, the rumour just fit with what I saw myself. When he left you were very depressed and I could tell even then there was something between you. It really worried me, it still does."

"Fine we were your kids, but long before the first kiss he stopped being like my overprotective older brother. Yeah we were foster brother and sister when we kissed then, but you handed custody over to his stepmother before the second one," Jessie said.

"So if you gave custody of Duncan to someone else, and kept Sasha, would that mean they.." Sarah started to ask.

"Oh don't even finish that," Jessie snapped.

"See, the idea disgusts you, now you know how I feel," Sarah said.

"They are brother and sister though, they both have the same parents, James and I are no where near related," Jessie said.

"I know but you have to understand that you both seemed to me like brother and sister, can't you see?" Sarah said.

Jessie groaned, "yes I got that, but it's no excuse for how you treated me. I explained that he stopped feeling like my brother a long time ago."

"That's not the point," Sarah muttered.

"I know it's not, I understand that you feel a little weird about this, I'm just trying to make you see my side of it. I guess with you I don't really have one, you made up your mind and as always it's the right opinion," Jessie said.

Sarah shook her head, "no Jessie, I.."

"No just save it, I don't want to talk about this anymore," Jessie muttered, she got up and headed for the door.

**The Trafford:**  
"Welcome to the heart of the Trafford, the really dodgy fountain," James said.

"Oooh pretty," Sandi sarcastically said.

Lena raised her eyebrow, "so is this where, you know, where it happened?"

"No it was up there," James replied as he looked up the escalator.

"So where should we look?" Sandi asked.

"Well one old shopping centre I went to had an escalator going up, and then some stairs that lead down to the fire exit, and further on the basement underground," Kevin said.

"Strange design," Lena commented.

"They claimed it was safer to have different fire exits for different floors," Kevin said.

"Ok fine, two of us can check upstairs, the other two can check down here," James said.

"I say you and I stay down," Lena said.

James sighed, "fine."

Sandi made her way over to the rusty escalator, "have I ever mentioned how much I hate these things when they're working."

Kevin smirked as he followed her, "plenty of times."

"I'm curious," Lena said as she and James headed away from the fountain. "Jessie told me that the story you and her told us a few years ago, you know was partially inaccurate."

"Of course it was, there's a lot I wouldn't want to tell anyone," James said.

"I know, I get that. What I was wondering was, did you and your stepfather actually get along or were you always like that?" Lena questioned.

"At first I was rude to both him and Susy, I gave them a pretty rough time when I moved here," James replied.

Lena sighed, "but?"

"But he actually bothered to get to know me, so I kinda let him in. Susy on the other hand, she just tried to change me, not get to know me so we fought all the time," James replied.

"I see," Lena said. "What do you think happened?"

"Beats me," James muttered. "Normally I'd say I treated him like dirt sometimes so it was only a matter of time. But the thing is he said he understood why I was treating him like that, and that he went through something similar. Honestly I don't know."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Lena asked.

"Over ten years ago. The Marquis thought that since he was part of Starfleet medical, he'd be able to smuggle supplies," James replied. "I saw him just before he left for Earth, I don't know what happened to him as my ship was sent to the Bad Lands at that time."

"Oh right," Lena said.

"If you're wondering, we were still on good terms when I last saw him," James said.

Lena shrugged, "maybe it all happened when he found out who you were."

"I guess so, but I wish he'd snap out of it," James said. "I know, he was married to my stepmother so he wasn't really a relative, but he was more of a dad to me than my real dad was."

"Yeah I get that," Lena said. "I guess it's a good thing that you and mum are getting along better now."

"How do you know that?" James asked.

Lena smiled, "mum contacted me to tell me, she seemed very happy about it."

"Great," James muttered.

"Speaking of which," Lena said with a grin. "When am I going to see those baby pictures?"

James stopped in front of her, "never."

"Aaw, that's not really fair," Lena pouted.

"Hey it is, you have to show me yours in exchange," James said.

"You know that's impossible," Lena muttered.

"Why do you think I said it," James said.

Lena shook her head, "they can't be that bad."

"Oh they are, I even hid them from Jessie, and she knew me when I was four and a little shy, that was an embarrassing time," James said.

"I can't ever believe that, I'm sorry but you are not the shy type," Lena said.

"Yet you still believed the part of our story where we were drunk," James said.

Lena frowned, "that wasn't true?"

"No, Jessie and I used to be big fans of Red Dwarf. She probably added that part for a laugh," James replied, shaking his head. "Obviously nobody noticed me trying not to laugh."

"So what did happen there, she must of got chucked out for a reason?" Lena asked.

James frowned as he watched behind her, "uh Lena.."

"What?" she said, she turned around. Two vampires were climbing through the broken part of a shop's window. "Oh, right."

"I'll check it out, you get Sandi and Kevin," James said.

"Right," Lena sighed. She headed for the escalator while James walked towards the shop.

Further down the corridor on the other side of the fountain, John was watching from around the corner. "Some vamps went into a shop."

"So?" Stephen muttered.

John rolled his eyes, "there's only a small hole in the window, they've made it look like they haven't raided it."

"Oh, you think the nest is there," Stephen said.

"No but thanks for giving me the idea," John muttered sarcastically.

"Um, Stuart's going towards it," Matt said.

"I wouldn't worry, the vamps are malnourished and they can get through the hole," John said. "I doubt he can."

"He can break the window, are you stupid?" Stephen muttered.

"Right, that's loud and that'll attract the vampires," John muttered.

David raised his eyebrow, "what do we do, continue looking?"

"Why not. David, Johnny, Lynn you three look around some more. We'll follow him," John replied. "We will wait until they've gotten in though." David, Johnny and Lynn nodded their heads, they turned around to go back the way they came.

Meanwhile James had gotten to the shop door, he broke the handle easily and went inside.

"I was going to suggest that," Stephen commented. John and Matt groaned.

Lena, Sandi and Kevin rushed down the escalator "It does seem a bit suspicious considering every other window is broken badly," Lena was saying.

"Then again, it could be a trap," Kevin said.

Sandi shrugged, "a trap would be good. They always send a lot of vampires with those."

"True," Lena said, she went into the shop, Sandi and Kevin followed her. "James, where are you?"

A door at the back of the store creaked open. "Down here," James said quietly. He disappeared again. The others quickly followed him through the door. Nearby there were stairs leading down to an old stockroom. "One of the stocking shelves must of collapsed during the first game, there's a gaping hole right in the middle of the stockroom."

"Well I don't think our wannabe Buffy's got this far, lets take a look," Lena said. The group reached a shallow but wide hole in the floor.

Kevin sniggered, "wannabe Buffy's." The others stared blankly at him. "What, all but one are guys. Well I thought it was funny."

"Well she did get killed twice, the resistance sure do like to get themselves killed too," James said. He jumped down into the hole.

"Like he's any better," Lena smiled, she jumped down too.

Sandi and Kevin did the same. They followed Lena and James down a dark damp tunnel. It wasn't long before they reached the end of the line, a dead end.

"Oh that's just great, it is a trap," Lena muttered.

James stepped closer to the end of the tunnel, "I don't think so." He placed his hand on the wall in front of him, it moved forward slightly.

"Great, nice door," Kevin commented.

James pushed the 'door' further open, and carefully went through the gap. Lena shrugged before following him, after a few steps she bumped right into him. She shuddered, "oh god, what is that?"

"Our nest," James muttered.

Sandi and Kevin soon joined them. "This is not good," Kevin muttered.

Sandi glanced down, only inches away the ground ended for about two hundred feet. On lower ground there was a few hundred vampires hanging out so to speak.

"We can't take this many at once, what do we do?" Lena questioned.

"A bomb should take care of it, or a torpedo from a ship in orbit," James replied.

"I'm no expert but wouldn't a torpedo take out the entire city as well?" Sandi muttered.

"That's why I suggested the bomb first," James replied.

"A bomb would still hit the edge of the city, we're talking about a lot of damage here," Kevin said.

"It's no use talking about it here, we don't have a bomb, lets go," Lena said, still shuddering.

"I don't think so," John said as he entered the hideout. He raised a phaser rifle and pointed it at the group. "That bomb idea will destroy everything we want to preserve, I can't let you do it."

"You've got to be kidding me," James muttered.

"You mean you'd rather have this many vampires hiding underneath your precious city?" Lena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ohno, we can take care of them easily," John replied.

"How do you plan to do that with just three out of six of you?" James questioned.

John pressed a few buttons on the rifle, as he did Matt raised a crossbow he had, Stephen just looked rather confused. "Well I was thinking of making the Slayers do some of the fighting, is that too much to ask?" John replied.

"There's hundreds down there, how do you expect us to kill them all?" Kevin said.

"I don't, I expect you to take out as much as them as you can," John said.

"Um, why wasn't I told about this part of the plan?" Stephen asked uncomfortably.

"I wasn't either, go with the flow," Matt whispered to him.

"Right here's how this is going to work. I want the two girls and the tall guy to go down with Stephen and Matt, he stays here with me," John said.

"Oh I see, you're ordering everyone but yourself to go down and get themselves stupidly killed, how heroic," James said sarcastically.

"And I guess you'd know about heroics, huh James," John muttered, he stepped closer to him still pointing the rifle. "That was sarcasm by the way, recognise it?"

"I don't see the big deal, your city is already destroyed. If you destroy this nest you wont get rid of all the vamps but you'll get rid of most of them, after they're gone you can rebuild. This is just suicide," Lena said.

"She's right, I wont let you," James said, he raised his hand to get the rifle but John backed away.

"Don't, it's on kill," John snapped.

Stephen glanced over to look at the rifle, "uh boss, isn't he your.."

"Shut up!" John snapped. "If the Slayers don't want it this way, we'll just have to do it ourselves. Matt, Stephen, lets find a way down." He headed away from the group, walking sideways so he could keep an eye on them, eventually he turned the right way. Matt followed him, but Stephen didn't look too sure about it.

"To hell with it, I'm not going," Stephen muttered.

Lena watched Matt and John walk away, "we're not going to let them do this, are we?"

"No, you guys stay here, I'll go after them," James replied.

"God you're just as crazy as your stepdad," Stephen commented.

"No I'm not, it'll be ok if the vamps don't spot us. Just stay here," James said. He started to follow John and Matt.

Lena sighed, "well this is great, anyone got any better ideas?"

"I'm still going with the bomb idea," Kevin replied.

"No stupid, we need a plan for right now. Bomb is for later," Lena grumbled.

"Well can't James handle it?" Stephen asked nervously.

"Probably," Sandi shrugged.

"If just a fight may catch the vamps attention, the further down they go, the more dangerous this whole situation gets," Lena said.

Matt and John started walking down some stone steps. "There's just two of us John, what do you expect us to do?"

"Kill as many as we can, that's what," John replied.

"Come on, even that battle with three Cardassian ships was less suicidal than this," Matt muttered.

John stopped in front of him, "we survived that, didn't we?" He then spotted James not far behind them. "Oh.. the stalker is here."

Matt glanced around briefly, "technically we were the stalkers."

James stopped a few steps away, "I'm just here to help."

"Good, you can go first," John said.

James shook his head as he walked closer to them, "that's not what I meant." He pushed them both roughly, they stumbled down the rest of the flight of steps. "I'm here to help cure your suicide problem," he said as he continued down like nothing happened.

"Um, what's he doing?" Stephen stuttered.

Lena stared towards the steps, "I don't know."

"You see the trick is to give it a few goes, maybe even just once.." James knelt down near the two to pick up the rifle, he immediately stood back up. "If you're lucky the first brush with death will scare the crap out of you, you wont be doing it again soon."

"What are you doing, you're just as crazy as he is," Matt grumbled as he pulled himself up.

"Oh so you know this is nuts then?" James questioned, he punched him in the face. "Congrats, you've passed."

Nearby the end of the steps a group of vampires looked up and spotted them. They started charging up the steps.

John managed to get up quickly, he instead pointed the crossbow at James. "Remember this, it's one of few weapons you left in your room."

"I wasn't a big fan of the crossbow," James muttered.

"No? I find it quite useful," John said. He glanced down at the next flight of steps where the vampires had gotten to. "What was that all about anyway? I thought you were going to try and be heroic and force us to safety."

"I knew you wouldn't come willingly, I had to convince you that this is just suicide," James replied.

"Well I guess you'd be the expert on that subject," John muttered.

James glanced down at the vampire horde, "don't be stupid John, point that thing at them instead while running away."

"You would suggest running away cos that's all you can do, isn't it?" John said as he stepped up.

"I'm serious, I can't take that many and I doubt you can either," James said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but you were the one who pushed me down here, and well attracted the vamps," John said. A phaser beam struck him in the shoulder, he collapsed. James turned around to see the others rushing down the steps. Stephen lowered the rifle he had when they all caught up with James.

"I don't know what you thought you were doing but now it's time to go," Lena muttered. She glanced at Kevin, "you get that guy, James you may as well get your crazy stepdad." Kevin knelt down nearby Matt, he pulled him onto his feet.

The vampire horde had finally reached their flight of steps. Sandi stepped down a few more steps so she could pick up John's crossbow, "it's too late." She fired the crossbow at one vampire, "damn it, these things are crap." She threw it at another one. The whole horde had mostly overwhelmed the group.

Lena shuddered, "why the hell did I have to get dead phobia, of all phobias there were, why?" She pushed a few vamps away from her.

James meanwhile was struggling with three vampires, "go then Lena. You still have.." One vampire tried to bite him, he quickly knocked it away. "Do you mind!"

Lena glanced up the steps and then at Kevin, "come on, I'll cover you."

Kevin sighed, "fine." He headed up the steps, dragging Matt with him. Lena slowly followed him, trying to push away as many vampires as she could at the same time.

Sandi pushed one vampire over the edge of the steps, she quickly grabbed onto the wall to stop herself falling too. "Um James, where's John and Stephen?"

James pushed his way a little closer to her, "John's on the ground somewhere, this can't be good."

Sandi got knocked backwards by a large vampire and landed uncomfortably on the steps. Through the masses of legs she could just see John. "I see him," she said, she smiled sweetly at the vampire. "Hey thanks."

"No problem," the vampire grinned. Sandi kicked one of his legs, he tumbled over backwards, knocking everyone behind him over like dominoes, well just. James just escaped it but only by an inch or so.

"Be more careful," James muttered as he headed back to where John was lying. He knelt down next to him.

Sandi shrugged as she pulled herself up, "what, it's not my fault that you're short and I couldn't see you."

James got back up, pulling John with him, "I'm not short, ok!"

Sandi shrugged after punching one vampire, "whatever, lets find Stephen and go before everyone else gets up."

James came over to where she was, staring at the ground nearby her, "um, Sandi."

Sandi glanced at where he was looking, a group of four were busy feeding on a lifeless Stephen. "Oh.. lets go then," Sandi stuttered. She rushed up the steps, James followed her, dragging John with him.

Lena, Kevin and Matt had meanwhile reached the top of the steps. Matt groaned as he stepped away from Kevin, "do you Slayers always hit that hard?"

"I do, he doesn't," Lena replied. Kevin rolled his eyes.

Sandi quickly caught up with them, "time to go."

"Wait, there's three missing," Matt said.

James and John caught up, John was starting to wake up. "Make that just one, Stephen's dead."

John groaned, "they may.. sire him, if they do they'll get the codes to the shield."

Matt sighed, "John, Stephen had a bad memory, I doubt it."

"We can't be too sure though," John groaned. He tried to head back the way he came but James stopped him.

"Oh you're not going back there," he said.

"James you know what'll happen if the vampires know the shield code," John muttered. "I have to make sure he is properly dead."

Lena rolled her eyes, "come on, lets go.. we can change the code when we get back." Everyone but John and James headed out of the hideout.

"She has no idea. The computer system will take an hour to reset the password, they may escape before then," John muttered.

"Fine, I'll go," James said.

John shook his head, "no, whoever goes will be killed too. I think Earth needs every Slayer it can get these days.. I'm no Slayer so I should go."

"But they may turn you into a vampire too," James said.

"They wouldn't want an old man as a vampire, now will they. Besides Stephen was young, stupid and weak, he'll be turned for sure. Besides it is my fault it's gotten this bad, let me do something right for once," John said.

James stepped backwards slowly, "ok.. good luck." He turned around to follow the others out.

John sighed, "for once he listened to me, something's wrong there." He headed back for the swarm.

**Meanwhile:**  
The others rushed out of the shop, Lena stayed in the doorway. "Matt, when did that man turn crazy?"

Matt shrugged, "he was always crazy."

"A crazy doctor man, that's comforting," Lena muttered.

Sandi stared at her in disbelief, "no way is that guy a doctor."

James emerged from the back room, he closed the door behind him. "Do we have anything heavy to put in front of this?"

Matt frowned, "uh, where's John?"

"He's decided not to come. Is there anything heavy around this store?" James questioned.

Lena looked around the room, "well not here, but I'm sure next door sold furniture."

"Great, lets pile up," Sandi said.

**Shield Row:**  
Jessie glanced at the watch on her arm just as someone knocked on the front door. She got out of the chair, and headed out of the room. She opened the glass door leading to the passage, "it's open."

The front door opened, Richard walked inside and closed the door behind him. "Hello Jess, your message was very vague, I was suppose to come wasn't I?"

"Yeah you were," Jessie replied as she headed back towards the living room.

Richard followed her, "I heard the Enterprise spent some time in another galaxy."

"Well I heard that.. um, oh I heard that Jodie works on Voyager's bridge," Jessie said.

Richard shook his head, "yes she does. Now what made you want to contact me at this time in the morning?"

"It's been one of those days I suppose," Jessie replied, she sat back down.

"I see," Richard sighed, he sat down next to her. "Tell me about it."

**New Manchester:**  
"Wow, that was almost an all nighter," Lena muttered as she walked into her flat. Sandi and James followed her.

Kevin just popped his head in, "you know the drill, no knocking.."

"On the door until four pm, I know," Sandi groaned.

Kevin nodded, his head disappeared again and the door closed.

"I wonder if Stephen's shuttle is parked around here," James said.

"It's ok, I'll take you back again in my shuttle," Lena said.

"I've had enough danger for today, thanks," James muttered.

Lena rolled her eyes, "I'm probably a better driver than you."

"Sure you are. Besides I may as well take it, that thing usually takes me to work so.." James said.

Sandi walked over to the fridge, she opened it, "hey, where's most of our food."

Lena groaned, "probably Yasmin ate it."

"Great, we'd better get a new replicator today," Sandi muttered.

James headed back to the front door, he stopped. "Lena, do you really think the rest of the resistance will carry on, you know without John?"

"Who knows. Matt knew what he was going to do was crazy, but went along with it anyway," Lena replied.

"He did say that he'd change their tactics, that's something right?" Sandi said.

"Not something good, no. He'll get himself and the others killed most likely. He obviously wasn't going to leave the city so I doubt that anything good's going to come from this," James said.

Lena folded her arms, "if that's what you think, why did you ask me what I thought?"

"I was hoping that you'd say the opposite of what I thought," James replied.

"Ok maybe Matt and the resistance will kill all the vampires, save Manchester and everyone will live happily ever after. That's opposite right?" Lena said.

"I said the opposite of what I thought, I didn't say make up something unrealistic," James said.

Lena shrugged, "that is the opposite of what you thought though, well except the happy ever after part."

"Is there a point to this?" Sandi asked.

"No, I just wish that little lesson I gave Matt would make him see sense, obviously not," James replied.

Lena and Sandi glanced at each other, "uh, what lesson?"

"That's what I was doing before the vampires came," James muttered. The girls stared at him instead. "Oh forget it," he grumbled and he walked out.

"Oh well," Lena sighed. "At least this day can't get any weirder."

"Yeah," Sandi nodded her head. "Hey I haven't seen the final few episodes of Friends yet, wanna see if they are in the database?"

"Um ok," Lena replied.

******The End******


End file.
